Ohio’s top 1 percent of earners make 21
times more than the other 99 percent of earners in Ohio, according to a
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tank based in Washington, D.C.

Construction on the $132.8 million streetcar project
restarted yesterday, marking an end to the nearly two-month drama
brought on by Mayor John Cranley’s election and his threats of
cancellation. City Council paused the project for a little more than
three weeks to conduct an audit on its costs, but the legislative body
agreed to restart construction last week after receiving a signed
agreement from the Haile Foundation that the philanthropic group will
provide $9 million over 10 years to help pay for $3.13-$3.54 million in annual operating costs.
An automatic increase on Ohio’s minimum wage at the start
of the new year will benefit 330,000 Ohioans, according to an analysis
from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The higher wages should
translate to a better economy for all Ohioans: EPI found the automatic
increase will generate nearly $39 million in economic impact and 300
full-time jobs. Since a voter-approved measure in 2006, Ohio has been
among several states who peg the minimum wage to increases in the cost
of living.More than 36,000 Ohioans will lose emergency unemployment
benefits for the long-term unemployed tomorrow following a lack of
congressional action, according to left-leaning think tank Policy
Matters Ohio. The emergency benefits were passed by Congress at the
start of the Great Recession to help those hit worse by the economic
downturn, but Congress failed to extend the benefits before it recessed
for the holidays despite lingering signs of a weakened economy. Without the
extension, Ohioans can tap into just 26 weeks of state-provided jobless
aid; federally funded emergency benefits give the unemployed another 37
weeks to find work before losing government assistance.Here are CityBeat’s top stories of 2013.The annual review of the two-year state budget could
include income tax cuts, said Ohio’s tax chief. The statement follows
Gov. John Kasich’s announced push for another income tax cut to help
spur Ohio’s slowing economy. The Republican governor signed a state
budget that reduced taxes — particularly for the wealthy — earlier in
the year, but Ohio’s economy still slowed down in the past few months as the
state unemployment rate surpassed the national rate for the first time
in years.With the Ohio Supreme Court’s rejection last week of a
challenge to the state’s federally funded Medicaid expansion,
conservatives are conceding the battle is “over with” for now. Gov.
Kasich pursued the federally funded expansion without approval from the
General Assembly by going through the seven-member Controlling Board,
but Republicans, who largely opposed the expansion of a government-run
health care program from the start, fought against the board’s approval in court.Gov. Kasich was “stingy” with his clemency powers during his third year in office, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Even though a review found Cintrifuse is a “Lead Applicant
with strong position within SW Ohio entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Ohio
Third Frontier denied state tax credits for the local startup incubator
because, according to the state review group, Cintrifuse maintains an unrealistic goal to scale to 60 tenants
in its first year and lacks strategy or process for the incubator services, graduation focus, an adequate staffing plan and a defined
tenant award process.
Delta briefly provided very low air fares following a technical error yesterday.
Much to scientists’ frustration, 2014 could be a bad year for the flu after the adaptive virus evolves.Follow CityBeat on Twitter:• Main: @CityBeatCincy • News: @CityBeat_News • Music: @CityBeatMusic • German Lopez: @germanrlopez

Advocates argue minimum wage increases spur economic growth

When Ohio’s minimum wage automatically increases by 10
cents to $7.95 per hour at the start of 2014, roughly 330,000 workers
will receive raises across the state, according to an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
That could be good news for all of Ohio: EPI found the minimum wage increase will benefit the rest of the state through nearly $39 million in economic impact and 300 new full-time jobs.
“Ohio workers and the Ohio economy will both benefit from
this raise for our lowest-paid neighbors,” said Amy Hanauer, executive
director of left-leaning think tank Policy Matters Ohio, in a statement. “The employees who
benefit will turn around and spend money in our communities, stimulating
growth here.”
The automatic increase is a result of a constitutional amendment
approved by Ohio voters in 2006 that hiked the minimum wage to $6.85 per hour and pegged it to
rises in the cost of living.
Ohio isn’t alone in the increase, however. Policy Matters
estimates 10 other states — Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Montana,
Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and New Jersey —
automatically increase their minimum wages each year to keep up with
inflation.
The nationwide minimum wage hikes “will generate over $619
million in new economic activity and support creation of 4,600 new
full-time jobs as businesses expand to meet increased consumer demand,”
according to Policy Matters.
The projections come at a time progressives are working on
the national stage to increase the federal minimum wage, which, at
$7.25 per hour, is becoming increasingly irrelevant as Congress fails to
keep up with many states’ minimum wage expansions.
President Barack Obama’s Fair Minimum Wage Law would raise
the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour by 2015 and — perhaps most
importantly — ensure the minimum wage increases each year to keep up
with the cost of living. The left-leaning National Employment Law
Project estimates the hike would help 30 million Americans and help grow the economy.
Opponents argue a minimum wage increase, especially one as
rapid as Obama’s proposal, would burden businesses with considerably
higher labor costs. They argue companies would drop
employees or raise prices to cope with higher expenses.
Advocates typically tout a minimum wage hike as a matter
of basic fairness. They claim the federal minimum wage would be
$10.55 per hour today if it kept up with inflation.
Meanwhile, the economics research on the effects of the minimum wage is fairly mixed. Some studies linked higher minimum wages to less employment, while other studies found no effects at all.